UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a fair amount of men, would be down in the same-night ratings.

ABC’s numbers shrunk as expected once football was taken out of its averages. “Dancing With the Stars” (2.0/5 in 18-49, 13.72m) came in a bit below the previous week in 18-49 and a bit higher in total viewers. And at 10, “Castle” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 10.87m) was up slightly week to week.

There were no 18-49 adjustments for the programs on CBS, NBC and Fox.

NBC remained the Monday leader this week despite declines for “The Voice” and “The Blacklist,” but CBS made some noise early with six-week highs for “How I Met Your Mother” and a solid-enough return to the schedule for “Mike & Molly.”

In metered-market overnight estimates from Nielsen, ESPN’s Bears-Packers matchup on “Monday Night Football” earned an-above average 10.4 household rating, and may have taken away some male viewers from shows.

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According to preliminary Nielsen estimates, “How I Met Your Mother” (3.4 rating/9 share in adults 18-49, 8.7 million viewers overall) posted its best scores since its season premiere; it edged ahead of “The Voice” head-to-head in 18-49 for the first time (3.4 to 3.3) and ruled as Monday’s No. 1 series in adults 18-34 (3.2/10). That bigger start to the night, though, didn’t provide a boost for “2 Broke Girls” at 8:30 (2.6/7 in 18-49, 8.1 million viewers overall), which was in line with last week.

At 9 p.m., “Mike & Molly” began its fourth season with a 2.6/6 in 18-49 and 9.1 million viewers overall; this is down from the 3.1/8 in the demo it did with its season premiere in September 2012, though that was at 9:30 p.m., behind a much stronger “2 Broke Girls” (3.7). “Mike & Molly” last night held its 18-49 lead-in while growing a bit on “2 Broke Girls” in 25-54 (3.5 vs. 3.4) and drawing about 1 million more total viewers (9.1 million to 8.1 million). Closing out the night for CBS, rookies “Mom” (2.0/5 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall) and “Hostages” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 4.8 million viewers overall) matched their season lows in 18-49.

NBC’s “The Voice” moved into its live shows with a 3.6/9 in 18-49 and 11.6 million viewers overall, making it the night’s No. 1 entertainment program in 18-49 but down about 15% from last week and its lowest Monday score of the fall. It was followed by “The Blacklist” (2.9/8 in 18-49, 10.3 million viewers overall), which hit a season low but retained more of its lead-in than usual.

At Fox, “Bones” (2.0/5 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall) and “Sleepy Hollow” (2.5/6 in 18-49, 6.9 million viewers overall) returned from a one-week baseball-dictated hiatus, with both shows down two tenths. “Sleepy,” like “Blacklist,” hit a low last night but they are both especially big gainers in DVR playback.

Numbers for ABC are inflated as its averages include football in Milwaukee (Packers on “Monday Night Football”). In the prelims, “Dancing With the Stars” (2.1/5 in 18-49, 14.4 million viewers overall) was flat week to week in demos and up in total viewers while “Castle” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 11.9 million viewers overall) was up three-tenths in 18-49.

CW’s “Hart of Dixie” (0.4/1 in 18-49, 1.0 million viewers overall) and “Beauty and the Beast” (0.3/1 in 18-49, 0.7 million viewers overall) were on par with last week.

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UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]

UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]

UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]

UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]

UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]

UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]

UPDATE: In the nationals released late Tuesday by Nielsen, ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” emerged the night’s top show in both adults 18-49 (6.1/16) and total viewers (16.11 million). These are the best scores for the franchise since the start of the TV season, so it’s not surprising that some shows, especially those that draw a […]